


maybe then you'll see me

by imaginarypasta



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Identity Reveal, Not D-Stabilized Compliant, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Platonic Gray Ghost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23211118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginarypasta/pseuds/imaginarypasta
Summary: identity reveal to valerie...“Red, I need a break.”
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Valerie Gray
Comments: 27
Kudos: 229





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> sorry about all the fics in a row cha girl is on a roll

“Red, I need a break.” Danny’s eyes brimmed with tears. 

Her hoverboard stopped, and he was pretty sure it only did that because she was hesitating. He knew his shoulders were slumped, arms shaking with anxiety. He knew he looked pathetic. And this was all that was keeping her from annihilating him right now.

“A break?” she asked. “Are you trying to trick me, ghost?”

He started at the word as she spat it out with terrible venom. “ _ Please _ .”

“I’m not going to put my gun down,” she said, but she did anyway. Her posture was still defensive, still ready to fight if this was a trap. She believed him, even if her mind was telling her not to. He hoped she saw something  _ Danny _ in him at this moment. 

“I’m-” His voice caught in his throat. “God, I’m just sorry.”

“For what?” she demanded.

For what? He didn’t really know, if he was honest. “For everything.”

“Phantom…”

“I know you hate me because you say it all the time. And I’m not going to ask you to stop because I understand why you do. I really do. But I think you should.”

“You just said you weren’t going to ask.”

“I didn’t. I just said I think you should.” He could hear her annoyed sigh. “Sorry.” He breathed out forcefully. “I want you to know I would never try to hurt you, Val -- Red.”

“Do  _ not _ call me that.” she hissed. “You do not get that privilege.”

Danny licked his lips; one of his teeth nicked his tongue, but the wound healed up immediately.  “You’ve never asked me what I was like when I was alive.”

“Because I don’t care.”

“I think we would’ve been friends.”

“You think wrong.”

“I don’t think I do.” He kicked his legs out as he sat in the air. “I like space. I’m good at bowling. I hate Christmas.”

“You’re not special.”

“No,” he agreed. “Sometimes, I think I’ll wake up one day and I’ll never be human again.”

“You’re not human, Phantom.”

“Maybe not anymore.” He smiled sadly at her. “Everyone keeps telling me I am, but… Look at me.”

“I know.” Valerie said. “You’re a ghost.”

“You don’t even know the half of it,” he chuckled. He paused for a long breath. “Ask me how I died.”

“No.”

“V-Red.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Just ask. Please.”

“Fine," she groaned. "Tell me then.”

“I was electrocuted. I remember it all. Thought I’d be helping my parents. I guess I did in a way.” He laced his fingers together. “That’s how I know I’m gone. Humans, we can’t remember pain. But I do. Ghosts can’t remember their deaths. But I do. Lucky me.”

“Lucky you,” she agreed. “So why do you remember?”

He shrugged. “Like I said, you don’t know the half of it.”

“Then tell me.”

“I would. But I don’t know if you’d hate me more because I did. And I don’t want to take that risk. I like being your friend, Valerie.”

“We’re not friends, Phantom.” she hissed. “And don’t call me that.”

“But we are,” he said. There was something especially terrible about lying to Valerie. She was one of Danny’s only friends, and while he could reason away not telling his parents because they were ghost hunters, he couldn’t do the same for her. She was, plain and simple, someone he trusted, and not implicitly like his parents, not someone he could wait to tell until he was ready. The longer he kept this from her the more angry she would become. He had to tell her. He just couldn’t. “You just don’t see me.”

“I’m looking at you now.”

“Not what I mean.”

“Is this some crappy pun about being invisible?”

“Nah.” He stretched out his legs in the air and brushed imaginary dirt off his thighs. “Anyway, thanks for listening.”

“I was barely paying any attention.”

“Maybe you should start. Maybe then you’ll see me.”

She groaned. “I don’t see why you can’t just say what you’re trying to say.”

“Because,” he said. “I don’t know how you’ll react.”

“Who cares how I react? When have you  _ ever  _ cared about me? About anyone, for that matter?”

The look in his eyes was so, so sad, and he knew she could see it. “All the time. _All the time_. More than anything.” He looked at her with wide green eyes. She almost shrunk against the glare, but steadied herself. If she was this vulnerable, actually feeling for once, even with the mask on, maybe he could. “Promise me one thing?”

“What?”

“You’ll catch me?” And he let the transformation fade.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> valerie is actually my favorite (next to jazz) and i don’t think actually that she would just sit there and clap so.

She caught him, without a second thought. She hadn’t even had enough time to see who he was and she caught him.

When she saw him, when she finally looked at his face, she stopped in the air. He could hear the tears in her voice, “Change back.”

She’d always had a short temper. She’d been quick to anger even when she was still hanging with the popular kids. Sam always approved of her because of that. Valerie was usually irritated about something or other. It came with being her friend, listening to her complain. He’d never minded it. She was passionate, that was nice. Being the Red Huntress gave her an outlet, a purpose. Something to put that anger into -- helping people. Danny was never bothered by her for that. She surely wasn’t the only one. 

But he’d never seen her like this. Not even angry, just so sad and shocked and hurt that it seemed like anger. No, this was something else under a mask.

“What?”

“You don’t get to look like him. You don’t get to pretend to be him.”

“Valerie-”

“I told you not to call me that,” she spat. “Now turn back because I’m going to drop you.” He did and she let him go. Her back was facing him, like she was going to leave. But she just sat there, exposing it to him. Showing vulnerability. Was this her way of— 

She snapped back around to look at him. Her mask was off, dark curls cascading around her face as the helmet folded back. “Where the hell do you get off?”

“What?”

“I don’t know what your play is. I don’t know why you’re doing this. If it’s because you’re lonely and having some sort of pathetic breakdown or you’re trying to trick me into trusting you or what.”

He insisted, “It’s not like that—”

“Then what is it like, _ghost_?” she hissed. “What is it?”

“I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”

“Danny is my _friend_. You can’t use him as a pawn to get to me.”

“You don’t— Valerie, _I’m_ Danny.”

“No. Danny and I are friends. You’ve tried to kill me.”

“I’ve never shot at you. I’ve never tried to hurt you.”

“You have. In front of the school.”

“You weren’t in the suit. It was empty.”

“You got lucky,” she snapped. “Great job.”

“I paid attention!” he snapped back. “I’ve never wanted to hurt you.”

“So you keep saying but so what? You hurt everybody else! You think I can forgive that because you put on my friend’s face?”

Silver tears traced down his face. “No. I don’t. I don’t expect you to.”

“Then why are you doing this?” 

“I don’t want to keep lying to you,” he said. 

Valerie let out an irritated chuckle. “I know you think you’re clever. Putting on _his_ face to get me to let down my guard. It’s not gonna work, Phantom.”

“I’m not putting on anyone’s face.”

“Then whatever your special ghost name for it is. Shapeshifting or illusion or whatever. I don’t care. It’s not okay.”

Fine. If she wasn’t going to believe him. “Don’t,” he murmured. “Don’t take this out on him.”

“I don’t see why you care, ghost.” She was silent for a long moment. “The next time I see you,” she said. “I’m going to destroy you.”

“Please…” he began, but she had already flown off. 


	3. Chapter 3

Valerie approached Danny at school the next day, her hair wrapped in a bun on top of her head and the bags under her eyes deep and dark. He was there unusually early; Jazz had some project she needed to work on, so she’d made him come early with her.

“Valerie,” he said carefully. “Hey.”

“Hey, Fenton,” she said sleepily. “How’d you sleep?”

He’d known that she didn’t believe him. He just didn’t know if he should try again or let it go. “Poorly, you?”

She gestured to her eyes. “Guess.” He smiled as best he could and she cocked her head to the side. “Something got you down?”

“Fought with my parents,” he said. It was true. They’d gotten on him about his grades again and he’d said a lot of hurtful things in his anger. It’s what had made him weak enough to tell Valerie anything last night. “Nothing special.”

She didn’t press him about it. She was good like that. “Do you wanna hang before class starts? I’m gonna go get something from the cafeteria.”

“Sure,” he agreed. 

They got Valerie’s breakfast together, with her doing most of the talking. They went to the spot on the roof she’d shown him one time, the one they really weren’t allowed to be at, but still went to when their lunches matched up and Sam and Tucker’s didn’t. It was their spot. If they looked down, they could see kids shuffling into school. School wouldn’t start for a while; they had plenty of time to talk.

She said, “Danny.”

He didn’t look up at her from where he was picking dirt out of a crack in the roofing. “Yeah?” 

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.”

“You’re my best friend.” His heart hurt. “And I know that’s not saying much, since I don’t have any friends besides you.” She laughed, but he was silent. “But I care about you and… it’s a dangerous world. I don’t want you to get hurt. Last night—”

“I wasn’t lying,” he blurted out.

“What? No, I didn’t think you were, Danny. Parents can be difficult sometimes, I get it. I’m not gonna ask you about it if you don’t want me to. I was actually—”

“Valerie,” he interrupted. God, what was he doing? “That’s not what I was talking about.”

“Then what _ were _ you talking about?” She asked. He didn’t answer. She already knew. He was silent for so long. He should say something, but what was there to say? She already knew, she just didn’t want to believe it. “Oh,” she said with a small voice.

“Yeah,” he said, voice even smaller.

She stood abruptly, her milk carton falling from the tray on her lap; without thinking, Danny caught it.

“Danny, I—”

He moved to his feet, too quickly. Like a flicker and he was standing. “Look, I wanted to tell you for so long. You don’t know how hard it’s been—”

“Don’t,” she said, eyes squeezed shut, “say anything.”

He didn’t.

She opened her eyes. “Are we friends?”

“What?”

“I asked you,” she spat, before taking a moment to even her voice. “I asked you if we are friends.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Why,” she said. It wasn’t a question. He didn’t know what to say, and he saw tears running from her eyes. “I fucking  _ told _ you and  _ still— _ ” She wiped her eyes and the next time she spoke, her voice was cracking. “When we started talking. You knew then? About me? About how I felt about you?”

“Um,” Danny said. “I guess.”

“Explain that to me.” she said. “Was all this—” She gestured around them, “—so I wouldn’t hunt you?”

“It’s not like that—”

“But  _ was  _ it? Originally?”

He nudged the tray on the floor. It made a bumpy sound. “Yes.”

“And then what?” Her fist balled up at her side. She mimicked, “You just kept it going? Thought that if I was your girlfriend I’d just abandon my morals like that?” She snapped her fingers and the noise made Danny jump.

“No, not at all.”

“Right, of course,” she said. “You were just my friend instead. That’s enough. Don’t have to put too much effort into the lie if we’re not dating.”

“It’s not like that at all, Val.” He was taller than her by almost half a foot, but he felt so small. 

“You just don’t know when to stop  _ lying _ .”

“I’ve never—”

“Don’t you  _ dare _ tell me you’ve never lied to me.” She was right; he most definitely had. A lot. 

“The time with Cujo was a misunderstanding.”

“Was it?” she asked. “‘Cause it seems like you actually get on pretty well with the ghost puppy.”

He was at a loss for words. “I don’t want to lose you as a friend, Val.”

“You won’t,” she said. “‘Cause you never really had me as one.”


	4. Chapter 4

Danny had not gotten a good night’s sleep in a long time. If it wasn’t ghosts, it was insomnia, and if it wasn’t insomnia, it was nightmares. Occasionally, if he was lucky, he was only awake because he was stuck on a video game level he just _had_ to beat, but he was never lucky enough to just get some damn sleep. This all meant that a night’s rest cut short was no surprise.

What _was_ a surprise was the reason for it—a phone ringing.

The Fentons’ phone rang often, though usually it was answered by his parents, and almost exclusively during business hours. If someone wanted to reach Danny, they had better luck finding him on the street in a black hazmat suit. An interruption in his sleep was common, though for once it was something so mundane, he almost thought he was dreaming. But the phone kept going off downstairs, and it didn’t sound like anyone was going to wake up to answer it, so Danny fell through the floor into the kitchen where he brought the bright yellow landline to his ear.

“Fenton Works,” he said. His parents had given him a long spiel to recite whenever someone called, but he’d never really cared to learn it. In his more charitable moments, he would add a quick, “How can we help you?” to the greetings, but he was not feeling charitable tonight.

The person on the other line merely sniffled.

“Um…” he said helplessly, wondering if maybe he should ask Jazz what to do, since his parents were no doubt asleep.

He was saved when the voice said, “ _Danny_?” Valerie was on the other end, crying by the sound of it.

“Hey,” he answered breathily. “What’s up?”

She was quiet for a moment. “ _I’m glad you picked up_.”

He hummed noncommittally.

“ _Look… Can we talk?_ ”

“Uh,” he said. He drummed his fingers on the countertop and his eyes darted to the clock on the microwave. 2:04, but it was always 7 minutes fast. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“ _Oh, I meant like, can I meet you somewhere?”_

“Val, I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now.”

“ _I-i promise I won’t try to shoot you or anything. I just want to talk.”_

“I don’t know—”

“ _Please_.” He could hear the strange, urgent shakiness of her voice. “ _I just…_ ”

“Okay,” he agreed before he could think better of it. “Where do you want me to meet you?"

* * *

When Danny got to the meeting spot, Valerie was sitting on a park bench, nervously chewing her nails. She wasn’t in her suit, but he could see the metallic red bracelet around her wrist that let her equip it so quickly. There weren’t many lamps in the park, but he didn’t need them to see her.

He sat on the far side of the bench, folded his legs up underneath himself—no doubt dirtying his sweatpants—and stuffed his arms into the pockets on his hoodie. It was the oversized one with the Apollo 11 design on the back; Valerie had given it to him for his last birthday, he realized in their silence.

“Hey,” she said after a long time of quiet companionship.

“Hey,” he responded.

“Um… so, I just wanted to talk.” He nodded, but his eyes were focused on the piece of gum someone had dropped onto the cement. “Can you explain it to me?”

He sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

“Can you… can you start from the beginning?” He turned to blink at her, though he knew she couldn’t see him. “You said you died.”

“Yeah.”

“And…?”

“And what?”

“You don’t seem dead.”

“’Cause I’m not.” He threw his head back to look at the sky. “I mean, I am, but also I’m not. I don’t really know.”

“Right. And your parents—”

“They don’t know about me. And I don’t want them to.”

“But don’t you want to know about yourself?”

He scoffed. “What can they tell me?”

“I don’t know. Whether you’re alive or dead, for starters.”

“Honestly, I don’t really care.”

“But I do.”

“Why? So you can have your easy answer? To know if you should hate me or not?”

“You’re not being fair.”

“Valerie, I didn’t _choose_ this.”

“So you would change it if you could?” He was quiet, thinking. “Danny?”

“I don’t—I mean, no. _No_ , I wouldn’t.” Valerie sighed and he blew his bangs into the air. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t _know_?”

“Look, I just don’t know how to feel right now, Danny.” He turned his head back to the sky, not remembering when he’d turned to look at her, to watch her profile as she stared into the empty space in front of her like her mind was a million miles away. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“It was a lot for me, too.”

“Can’t you be patient with me?”

“You know, I’ve been trying to get you to see me for years. I haven’t exactly been subtle.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I just, I kept saying and doing things and I thought you would just _realize_.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a very intuitive thing to guess.”

“I know.” Valerie pulled her legs into her chest. “Would you still have done it? If you knew it was me?”

“Danny…”

“Valerie,” he said sharply. She squinted her eyes shut, and he could see the faint traces of tears gathering on her eyelashes. “Just tell me.”

“I… I don’t know.”

“If you want to hate me, that’s fine. I don’t really care.” It was a lie, and she knew it.

“I don’t _hate_ you,” she said.

“But?” he prompted when her voice faltered.

“I just… it’s a lot to process.”

“You’ve mentioned.”

“I don’t… I don’t know if I can be around you right now.”

“You called _me_ here.”

“I know. I… I think it was a mistake.”

Now his own eyelashes were heavy with tears. “Right.”

“Maybe we should just give each other some space for a bit.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “I should get going, so—” She made a little noise of affirmation. “I’m gonna, like, fly, so maybe close your eyes, ‘cause it’s bright.”

She nodded, and the moment he transformed he threw himself into invisibility and fled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh sorry this took so long to update. i've been working on a bigger fic for a little bit that i've been really excited about and it's kind of taken up all my free time (although my progress would disagree lmao). anyway~~ hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. i love these two so much and it hurts me to bring them pain, esp when that pain is on account of each other, but also i love it (obv). <3


	5. Chapter 5

Valerie collapsed in a heap onto her bed and stared up at the blank white ceiling. She couldn’t wrap her mind around this. For one, there was just no way it was possible.

A ghost couldn’t be a human, or even anything close to it. They weren’t even the souls of dead humans, just imprints of their consciousnesses onto ectoplasm that eventually became strong enough to regenerate. It wasn’t that they didn’t feel emotions, it was that it was almost all they felt, and it was always the same as what they felt as they died.

She’d seen Danny express more than Phantom’s headstrong cockiness and unnecessary aggression—hell, she’d seen _Phantom_ show more than that. With the other ghosts, there was always _some_ nuance, however limited—they were dying, of course they were angry and grieving and still, miraculously, triumphant. She had attributed his mood swings to him being younger, more recent. It was like how the other humanoid ghosts weren’t even close to looking like humans anymore, but Phantom always looked more or less like a teenager. She never would’ve thought it was because he _was_ a teenager.

The Fentons said as ghosts got farther away from their deaths, they had no reason to retain their identity as humans. Humanoid, sure, with all the intelligence and philosophical abilities they had, but human in particular wasn’t something they needed to be anymore. He was just holding onto something he didn’t want to let go of. The animal ghosts were different, since they didn’t have the facilities to imagine themselves very different from what they looked like in life; sometimes their teeth were sharper, their bodies bigger, and more often than not they were stuck with that green tint to them that seemed to be required for all ectoplasmic entities.

Of course, he was an outlier again here. Other ghosts glowed with green and blue tints, like their skin had gone sick or cold, but Phantom was always a bold, bright white. If she thought about it, if she really thought about it, there was hardly anything ghostly about him at all.

Sure, he had the spooky look with his big eyes and pale hair, but Danny’s whole family had big eyes already, Danny’s as prominent as theirs when they weren’t half-lidded with sleeplessness, and plenty of kids at school had bleached their hair white at some point to show their loyalty to their hero. The only thing really tying him to the ghosts was the glow. That could be a weak possession.

But he couldn’t be possessed. Ghosts could barely use their powers when overshadowing someone, much less shapeshift between their forms, use their host’s body for something they could do themselves. Even if they could, they would have no reason to.

He’d said it himself, that he wasn’t putting on a face. Could it be _his_ face she’d been looking at all this time?

She had a gun pointed at him so often that her first thought of him was of his face marked with a red crosshair instead of any defining features, but if she considered beyond that, she could see his face. His long, angular nose in the perfect center of his face, eyes that crinkled up at the outer corners from a smile alternating with eyebrows that wrinkled in the middle in a scowl, a teasing, closed-mouth smile, and, when he got angry enough, that smile became barred teeth, sharp on the edges like most ghosts had but his were rarely as used.

And if she made herself really think, if she pretended the light didn’t come from his skin and instead left deep shadows under his eyes and on his face, she could see Danny in his features. A little less harsh in the hesitant way he carried himself while human, but the shapes were all there, all matching.

Of course, believing him meant that everything she’d ever known was wrong. Not just about ghosts, but about him.

He’d tricked her into being his friend. Plotted to get them to spend time together until she developed feelings for him. Said nothing when she broke it off because she was too busy hunting him. Wasted months hanging around her until she finally agreed to talk to him again. Spent hours with her, acting like he cared about her while she was never the wiser.

But if wasn’t lying about being her friend, if he really thought that’s what they were, that made it all the worse.

If what he was saying was true—and all the scientific facts said it couldn’t be, even if the evidence was laid out right in front of her—it meant she had been trying to kill one of her best friends. And he had more or less been letting her, content to put himself in danger so long as it meant he didn’t have to tell her. So long as it meant she didn’t know.

He didn’t trust her to know, because of everything she had tried to do to him. He had every reason not to. Even when he tried to tell her, she had half a mind to let him fall, and the only reason she didn’t was because he was wearing _his_ face. His _own_ face, she corrected. Still, he’d told her. That had to count for something.

 _Not enough_ , she thought, and wiped a tear from her cheek. When had she started crying?

Danny was smart, but he was impulsive and his friends had always been a blind spot. Being around her meant putting himself in danger, and she couldn’t let him do that. Even if she would never fire another shot at him, he would always be in danger of her hate. It was better this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh i had a lot of fun writing this chapter. i love valerie so much and i just wanted to get some nuance in there because it's what she deserves~~ so i hope y'all enjoyed this update :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops very long break in between chapters >.< it's been quite a while since i've written anything so bear with me pls

Valerie had already missed a day of school over this, which was most unlike her—not the missing school part, she did that regularly enough because of fighting ghosts, but dwelling on something like this was foreign to her. She’d done it when her mom had gone and the time her dad had taken her suit, but that was it. Halfway through first period, she wasn’t sure she was going to make it.

Danny wasn’t in this class, but his friend Tucker was, and he was melting holes in the back of her head with his stare. When their teacher gave them time to complete a worksheet, she turned and gave him a nasty look. He sheepishly looked down at his desk and her stomach twisted up.

Of _course_ she felt bad about it; feeling bad had been a constant for the last four days. She raised her hand and asked to be excused to the bathroom, where she locked herself in a stall to cry, only for her eyes to remain dry as she tried to focus labored breaths for the rest of the period.

* * *

At lunch, Star sat opposite her, droning on about bad partners in a group project when she stopped suddenly and asked Valerie, “Why are Manson and Foley staring at you?” Valerie blinked up from where she’d been absentmindedly tracing patterns on the cafeteria table. She raised her head to turn before Star said, “No, no, don’t look. But they’re totally staring at you.”

Paulina made a bored noise and stuck a fork in her fruit cup. “Yeah, ‘cause they totally hate her for breaking up with Fenton. That’s old news.”

“No, they haven’t given her a look like that in forever,” Star argued. Paulina looked her at a raised eyebrow, a silent conversation between them Valerie didn’t really understand and didn’t have any strength to right now.

“Did you do something, Val?” Paulina asked, only half-joking.

“Of course she didn’t! Valerie would never,” Star protested.

They both looked at her and it took a moment for her to register they actually wanted an answer. “What? Oh, it’s nothing.”

“‘Nothing?’” Star asked excitedly.

“Oh, that most _definitely_ means something,” Paulina agreed.

“I just… Danny and I had a fight or whatever. It’s fine.”

“He does look pretty mopey,” Star observed.

“Trouble in paradise?” Paulina asked.

Star gasped. “Oh, did he confess and you turned him down? That’s tragic, Val!”

Valerie’s cheeks darkened. “Not everything is about dating, you guys.” The look they gave her meant they didn’t believe her, but maybe it was better for them to think this had something to do with romance. Paulina whispered something in Star’s ear and Star’s eyes widened as she realized what she must’ve decided had been her mistake.

“Oh, Valerie, we didn’t mean it,” Star said.

“Yeah, any guy would be lucky to have you. He’s silly for not realizing,” Paulina agreed.

Maybe it _was_ better, but she couldn’t hear it right now. She stood abruptly, grabbing her bag off the table as she did. “Look, I’m gonna try to get to class early.”

“But lunch literally just started,” Paulina said.

“Yeah, I just… I missed yesterday, so I want to go ask Falluca for the assignments I missed.”

“Of course,” Star said, and Paulina nodded. “We’ll see you after school.”

Valerie ducked out of the cafeteria as quickly as she could.

* * *

Almost as soon as Valerie got to the roof, the silent little buzzer went off on her watch—her ghost alarm. She pressed the button on the device that activated her suit, waiting for the gear to equip before she flew off to track the ghost.

It was tearing up the football field, the players at practice and students who had been occupying the bleachers during their lunch cowering in whatever places they could find. She wanted to yell at them to get out of the area instead of hiding behind dumpsters and the annex which could collapse as soon as the ghost felt like hitting it, but then she realized the holes in the gates that surrounded the field had been covered by big mounds of dirt. Climbing would be too risky — they were trapped.

The ghost was thankfully just an animal one, a giant cobra, green belly and white everywhere else. Though they were destructive, at least Valerie wouldn’t have to deal with annoying taunts and dialogue. She could get this over with, because there was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn’t be alone for long.

Sure enough, she wasn’t. Phantom— _no_ , Danny—showed up in moments. He met her eyes as he flew up and she quickly turned away from his gaze. “Students are trapped; you need to get them out,” she directed, and he nodded before flying over to them.

She attacked the ghost before she could think too much and turn to watch him helping the students. There was no doubt in her mind he would help them, no reason to check if he was actually doing something to help people. For a long, aching moment, she truly hated herself for not seeing him sooner. The moment passed, but the feeling remained, and in the time it took her to have her little crisis, Danny had returned to the frontlines and started blasting the ghost with bright beams of ectoplasmic energy.

The sounds of battle were what brought her back into reality, and she quickly joined in on the fight. It was her first time truly fighting _with_ him like this; they had made minute-long truces before to defeat more nefarious foes, but Valerie had always become reckless in her attacks, too impatient to get to the part where she could attack Phantom to care much about the goliath before her. Now her movements felt sluggish and inexperienced.

Danny flew to her side and asked cautiously, “Valerie, what’s wrong?”

She narrowed her eyes and didn’t answer, sending a blast into the cobra’s roaring mouth before reloading her gun. It sent a tendril of green light towards her and she only barely dodged it.

“ _Valerie_ ,” Danny hissed. “You’re seriously off your game.”

“Fuck _off_ ,” she said in response, and his eyes widened for a moment before he slipped around another tendril coming their way and ducked back closer to the ghost.

After a few more traded blows, the ghost’s head began to hang limply in the air. Valerie aimed her gun for the killing shot, but Danny sucked it into his little thermos before she could. He shrunk away from her glower, although there was really no way he should’ve been able to see it under her mask. She dropped back to the ground, folding up her hoverboard before stalking over to where the crowd of students was before and checking they’d all gotten out.

When she turned to leave the scene, Danny was behind her, floating a few inches off the ground. “You should’ve let me kill it,” she said, instantly averting her gaze to the grass below their feet, scorched from this fight and the many before it.

“I’m putting it back in the Ghost Zone,” he said evenly.

“It’ll get back out and hurt people.”

“We’ll be there to stop it.” He sighed at her silence. “You were really out of it today, Val. I was worried.”

She peered up at him as he spoke. He was standing only a few inches from her now, closer than he’d ever ventured to stand as Phantom. She realized his eyes were trained on the blaster hanging off her hip, and grabbed it, instantly making him tense up and back up a few feet.

“So, what?” she said after a moment of silence. “Do you think I’m gonna hurt you or not?”

“What?” he asked, surprised.

“Apparently you can’t decide, because sometimes you’ll act like everything in the world is a joke and I’d never be able to hit you, but others I’m the best damn marksman on the planet.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Either you told me because you think I’ll give up on hunting you or because you want me to finish the job already. Which is it?”

“I don’t…” He was at a loss for words, eyes wide in confusion. “I don’t know. I just-”

“Couldn’t go on lying anymore, I know,” she spat. She really should be more sympathetic, considering she couldn’t figure out her own feelings about this herself. She was confused, she was sad, she was betrayed — but mostly she was just angry. “I’m not letting a ghost go back to the Ghost Zone where it can go on wanting to hurt people.”

“They don’t want to hurt people, they just… I don’t know, but they don’t all want to hurt people. They’re just scared.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I-” He paused, and he could tell just where she’d managed to trap him. “Why can’t I be both?”

Valerie was yelling now, and she was too mad to care if anyone could hear. “Because one of you I hate and the other I love. And that’s not a fair choice for you to ask me to make.” Danny opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “You _are_ asking me to choose, Danny, before you say it. Don’t act like you’re not.”

“Danny…” he repeated quietly, tasting the sound in his mouth. She realized belatedly that she’d already, stupidly chosen, without even realizing she had. She should draw her gun and shoot him, even the air around him, at least as a warning, as a way to backpedal. But she couldn’t bring herself to even fake hurting him. Instead, she spun around on her heel.

“Listen,” she said, trying to shave down some of the edge to her voice. “I’m leaving now.” He didn’t respond. “Don’t think I’ve made up my mind yet. You might’ve done some good today but I still don’t think I can trust you. Not now, at least.” Her voice was still icy, but she could feel his energy behind her relax a little bit. She would trust him again, somehow, someway. She just had to trust herself again first.


End file.
